June 6, 2006

1) Q: When will producers be notified whether their offers are acceptable?

A: USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) posted lists of acceptable and rejected offers for its state and county offices today and will immediately begin notifying producers.

2) Q: How many offers were made and accepted in the 33rd sign-up?

A: There were 22,990 offers made, of which 18,140 were determined acceptable.

3) Q: How many acres were offered and approved for enrollment?

A: 1.4 million acres were offered; 1 million acres were approved for enrollment.

4) Q: What kind of acreage was accepted?

A: The accepted acreage includes about 673,000 acres of land located within conservation priority areas, about 629,000 acres with an Erodibility Index (EI) of 8 or greater (highly erodible), and about 265,000 acres to be restored to rare and declining habitats. Also, offers involving over 53,000 acres of new tree plantings, including over 16,000 acres of long leaf pine habitat will be accepted.

5) Q: What will be the total enrollment in CRP on Oct. 1, 2006, when sign-up 33 contracts become effective?

A: There will be at least 36.7 million acres enrolled in CRP on Oct. 1, 2006. As more acres are enrolled through continuous sign-up this year, that number will increase.

6) Q: How much acreage, subject to expiring CRP contracts, will be re-enrolled in this sign-up?

A: Of the 343,000 acres expiring on Sept. 30, 2006, about 184,000 acres were offered, and about 119,000 acres will be re-enrolled.

7) Q: When will sign-up 33 contracts become effective?

A: Oct. 1, 2006.

8) Q: What will be the duration of CRP contracts?

A: Generally, CRP contracts are for a term of 10 years.
However, for land devoted to certain practices such as wildlife corridors or rare and declining habitat, contracts may be for up to 15 years, as selected by the participant.

9) Q: How were the offers selected?

A: FSA used the Environmental Benefits Index (EBI) based on five factors and cost in the competitive selection process.
CRP offers with an EBI score of 242 or greater were considered acceptable for enrollment. Land in counties impacted by the cropland limitation may have a higher EBI cutoff score. FSA selects the highest ranked offers that provide significant environmental benefits relative to cost.

10) Q: What percent of offers was determined acceptable?

A: About 74 percent of the total offers were determined acceptable.

11) Q: How does this acceptance rate of 74 percent compare to recent sign-ups?

A: This acceptance rate is similar to the last general sign-up (in 2004).

Historical Acceptance Rate
Sign-up Percent of
Number Offers Accepted
15 63%
16 60%
18 68%
20 70%
26 54%
29 76%
33 74%

12) Q: What are the EBI factors?

A: The EBI factors are: (1) wildlife habitat cover benefits that encourage covers and habitats on contract acreage that will be most beneficial to wildlife; (2) water quality benefits from reduced erosion, runoff, and leaching; (3) on-farm benefits of reduced erosion; (4) enduring benefits; and (5) air quality benefits from reduced wind erosion and sequestration of greenhouse gas.

13) Q: What did producers do to make their offers more competitive?

A: Many producers targeted only their most highly erodible land for enrollment into CRP. On approximately 88 percent of the offers, producers offered to significantly enhance native wildlife cover scores by agreeing to plant mixes of grasses, forbs, shrubs, or trees that are best suited for wildlife in the area. Many producers offered to establish more enduring practices such as tree planting and rare and declining habitat restoration. Additionally, approximately 20 percent of the producers were awarded additional points for submitting offers below the maximum acceptable rental rate.

14) Q: What are the advantages of using the EBI?

A: The EBI promotes the enhancement of cover for wildlife, encourages adoption of long-term protective vegetative covers and provides a quantitative basis for selecting the most environmentally sensitive acres by simultaneously considering the multiple environmental factors and costs.

15) Q: Why are acceptance rates in the Great Plains generally lower than in other areas of the country?

A: Generally, the Great Plains have seen large enrollments since 1997 compared with other parts of the country because the benefits and costs of this land made it more competitive. For example, Montana and North Dakota each have over 3 million acres enrolled, amounts equivalent to
18 percent and 12 percent of cropland, respectively, in these states. Further, sign-up offers from the states with low acceptance rates generally had, on average lower inherent erosion potential than other states, plus lower water quality benefits.

16) Q: When can a CRP participant begin to establish the approved cover?

A: Producers with acceptable offers may begin establishing the cover immediately. However, those who establish the cover before the CRP contract is approved do so at their own risk.

17) Q: May land that was offered but rejected for enrollment be re-offered during a later sign-up?

A: Yes. Land that meets basic eligibility criteria may be offered during any CRP sign-up even if it was previously offered but not accepted.

The likelihood of acceptance may be increased by offering to accept less than the maximum payment rate for the acreage, agreeing to establish a more beneficial cover, or limiting the offer to only the most environmentally sensitive portion of a parcel of land.

18) Q: What must be done to maintain eligibility for benefits under certain USDA programs for land coming out of CRP that is not accepted for re-enrollment? Must it be farmed according to a conservation plan?

A: If the acreage meets the applicable highly erodible land definition, a conservation plan is required to retain eligibility for certain other USDA programs. For any land returning to production, grazing or other uses, producers should contact USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to determine whether a conservation plan is needed.
If commodity acreage bases were surrendered upon enrollment in CRP, they will be restored upon contract expiration for the life of the current farm bill, the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002.

19) Q: If an offer for land already subject to a CRP contract is not acceptable, when can a producer begin preparing the CRP land for crop production?

A: CRP participants must obtain approval from the local FSA office in advance to begin certain land preparation activities for fall-seeded crops. Participants may prepare land for spring-seeded crops only with chemical burn down of cover during the summer. Beginning dates for these activities vary by region. All early land preparation activities must be applied for under an approved conservation plan. Interested participants should contact their local FSA office for details regarding early land preparation policies to ensure that they do not violate the terms and conditions of their CRP contract.

20) Q: How does enrollment of acreage in CRP help farmers?

A: CRP enrollment ensures that a producer has steady income while protecting and enhancing the soil, water, air and wildlife resources of the enrolled acreage.

21) Q: How many acres are enrolled in the CRP?

A: Approximately 36.0 million acres are currently enrolled in CRP. The expiration of contracts on 343,000 acres on Oct. 1, 2006, and the beginning of contracts on the 1.0 million acres approved during sign-up 33, will result in an enrollment level of 36.7 million acres on Oct. 1, 2006 (not including enrollment of continuous sign-up acres between today and Sept. 30, 2006). The statutory maximum number of acres that can be enrolled in the program at any one time is 39.2 million acres.

22) Q: Has acreage been reserved for future CRP enrollment?

A: Yes. About 2 million acres are currently reserved for practices covered by the continuous CRP sign-up process, Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (federal-state- private enhancement agreements) and other initiatives.
This figure is based upon USDA analysis of the acreage authority needed to ensure successful operation of these initiatives. Enrollment levels and producer interest will continue to be monitored and this reserve will be adjusted if necessary.

23) Q: When are producers and operators scheduled to receive their first annual rental payments from land accepted during sign-up 33?

A: Participants are scheduled to receive their first annual rental payment on or shortly after Oct. 1, 2007

24) Q: What are the key CRP data for recent general sign- ups and the historical CRP?

Historical CRP:
Approved Acres 36,400,000
Approved Offers 375,000
Payment Rate/Acre $50.00
Average EI 1/ 23
Trees (Acs) 2,400,000
Natl.PAs (Acs)2/ 6,600,000

Sign-up 15:
Approved Acres 16,800,000
Approved Offers 160,428
Payment Rate/Acre $39.39
Average EI 1/ 16
Trees (Acs) 1,312,000
Natl.PAs (Acs)2/ 3,507,473

Sign-up 16:
Approved Acres 5,900,000
Approved Offers 75,284
Payment Rate/Acre $45.15
Average EI 1/ 13
Trees (Acs) 295,419
Natl.PAs (Acs)2/ 1,432,405

Sign-up 18:
Approved Acres 4,987,061
Approved Offers 61,559
Payment Rate/Acre $45.50
Average EI 1/ 11
Trees (Acs) 431,119
Natl.PAs (Acs)2/ 1,486,241

Sign-up 20:
Approved Acres 2,460,238
Approved Offers 39,508
Payment Rate/Acre $52.76
Average EI 1/ 13
Trees (Acs) 274,133
Natl.PAs (Acs)2/ 622,576

Sign-up 26:
Approved Acres 1,995,189
Approved Offers 38,621
Payment Rate/Acre $56.53
Average EI 1/ 17
Trees (Acs) 225,948
Natl.PAs (Acs)2/ 316,328

Sign-up 29:
Approved Acres 1,672,049
Approved Offers 19,732
Payment Rate/Acre $50.24
Average EI 1/ 14
Trees (Acs) 74,435
Natl.PAs (Acs)2/ 190,376

Sign-up 33:
Approved Acres 1,007,793
Approved Offers 18,140
Payment Rate/Acre $53.44
Average EI 1/ 13.1
Trees (Acs) 85,778
Natl.PAs (Acs)2/ 178,910

1/ EI is Erodibility Index.
2/ Natl. PAs is National Priority Area acreage (including longleaf pine plantings after sign-up 16).